Tuesday, February 24, 2009

In Memory of the Brent Bigger Family

I would like to post a song in light of the terrible heartache carried by the Brent Bigger family and friends. I picked up this CD and was planning to mail it to Brent this week, as it seemed created specifically to comfort the brokenhearted. Unfortunately I learned of his passing around the same time. (There is a video with the music, but I find it especially powerful without the visual distraction) May God continue to hold their families close. In Brokenness You Shine
* I can't get the link to work. Please go to youtube.com and search the title. I DID get it posted to Facebook successfully.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Our Love Story...

Knowingly blending Facebook and Blogger is probably a blogging no-no, but here goes. Mary Ellen tagged me on Facebook to find out more about my married life.

"I was tagged and thought this one was fun - it's about you and your spouse, not just you. Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know! ;-) DON'T FORGET TO TAG ME SO I CAN READ YOURS IF YOU DO IT!!

♥ What are your middle names?
Mine is Yvonne, his is SOMETHING starting with E. My mom named me "Love Archer~ think Cupid" and I was born one week after Valentine's (I think this was coincidental). I don't have permission to share his, but it's a family name.

♥ How long have you been together?
We started dating when in Summer of 1996, when I was 15 and he was 21. And you are hereby all sworn to secrecy not to ever tell my daughter that ;o) We dated for two years, then we broke up for over a year, and then we got back together again. We married in the spring of 2001. Coming up on 8 years!

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
I met him at the Pell City Youth Camp in 1993, where he was my "counselor." I had a big crush on him that lasted exactly two weeks after I got home. My parents had been students of his parents at Hobe Sound. My dad flunked his dad's Greek class. So they knew my family better than I realized.

♥ Who asked who out?
Because I was so young, his mom actually called my parents to see if we could begin talking on the phone. Then he called my dad, then me. That was after the background check which revealed that none of my relatives were Nazi war-criminals and that I had never smoked pot.

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm almost 28. He's 34.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most?
In the dating days, he saw mine. Mostly because I was too young to drive ;o) He sat around and told us dramatic ghost stories. I would leave the room every time it got good, because it freaked me out to see my crush contort his face and scream like a wildcat when the "blood came out from under the closet door." I was sooo gullible back then. You should have seen me the time we were walking on one of those country roads and crossed a little old bridge. He leaned over the rail and softly said, "This reminds me of one of my previous girlfriends..." and then lunged at me. I about wet myself.
Now, we're pretty isolated where we live. We see his brother and family a couple times a year, and mine about the same.


♥ Do you have any children together?
Kathryn (age almost 4) and Alex (18 mos)

♥ What about pets?
Vida (the male cat with the female name that Kathryn named before you could see that he was male that we bought to kill the voles that were eating the roots of our shrubs, causing them to fall over- how's that for a run-on?)
& Squeak V~ our hamster

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
I'd have to say physical difficulty and church problems top the list. Especially if they're combined~ agh!

♥ Did you go to the same school?
We both attended HSBC for one year, just not at the same time.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Nope. I'm from the sticks of NE Alabama, and he grew up in S. Florida.

♥ Who is the smartest?
I'm not sure. I'd say that we are "intellectually compatible."

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Probably me. OK, definitely me. I actually have "Feelers"~ they are fuzzy fragile little extensions of myself that stick out around me in several directions. Occasionally, I'll say, "Oh, Nathan~ you just yanked a feeler out!" Humor helps a marriage.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Did you know that at Logan's from 4-6 on weekdays, you can get two entrees for 12 bucks? Sometimes, we go to Mexican instead, where I impress the world with my Spanish while Nathan stares blank stares at the waiters (just kidding~ he understands more than he realizes, I think)

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Dare I say it? Las Vegas! Yep, his company sent him there a few years ago for a computer conference. Try wearing a tag under YOUR neck for a week that says "WONDERWARE" Oh, the humiliation... WHO in their right mind would name a software company THAT? Did I mention the porn conference going on the same hotel. Vegas is a flashy, worldly, sinful place full of impressive hotels. Blech! We both got so sick of it that we rented a car one night and drove across the desert to the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset. The desert night sky is unbelievable.

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Me, of course. He's a slow one.

♥ Who does the cooking?
Me, and I love it (most of the time)

♥ Who is more social?
I'm definitely the less shy, but he is a fabulous public speaker. And we BOTH love having people over for food and games.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
I thought I was neat until I married him. He's amazing.

♥ Who is the more stubborn?
Heehee... can you guess?

♥ Who hogs the bed?
Kathryn. Nathan and I have a DMZ between us that only gets violated for hugs and when Kathryn squishes me into it. (She's very, very quiet, so I never hear her get in).

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Me, when I'm on schedule. I like to be up by 5:30, him by 6:00. But we both like to sleep in on the w/e.

♥ Where was your first date?
A Ryan's steakhouse.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
Mine. I'm one of 5.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
When I ask for them.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Mostly with his folks.

♥ Who is more jealous?
I don't think either of us is really a jealous type. Hey, don't you even THINK about looking at my man ;o)

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
After the break-up, we knew we'd only get back together if we were to be married. I'd call that pretty serious.

♥ Who eats more?
Pleading the 5th

♥ Who does/did the laundry?
Me, unless I ask for help.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
Definitely, indubitably him. He loves to program, and I'm still scared of Excel.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
He does mostly, but he doesn't mind a female chauffeur either.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Waiting for Spring

OK, I'm officially antsy, blue, ready for spring. I'm sick of dead grass, bare trees, bored kids. This week I saw a forsythia bush, some daffodils and a redbud tree all tentatively in bloom. So!!!! It's coming!!!! I came home and literally took a peek at my daffodil bulbs to make sure evil voles hadn't chewed them to bits. Thankfully, under their blanket of mulch, I found some green shoots headed for the light.

I feel like my brain's turned to winter mush, with no blog-worthy thoughts sprouting at all. So I'll just give you all a general idea of what's been happening here...

1. Kathryn has finally broken through her psych-block with doing 'No. 2' on the potty! Woohoo! Success~ finally. Let's see. She's only 3 years 10 months old~ agh... I must admit to underhanded devious techniques. Thank you to my dear sister-in-law Marianne for giving me the perfect peer pressure. "Kathryn, your cousin Daniel, you know the little baby one, the one that's a whole YEAR younger than YOU, is going poo on the potty~ like no big deal. He's really proud of being such a big boy." I'm sure (nope, I'm 100% positive!) that's not the best method, but I tried all the others and they failed, so there! She also has proclaimed her need to find a godly man to marry, so all you mommies out there~ please do a good job :o) In quiet moments, she asks me to play Mario on Nintendo 64 so she can sit in my lap and hug me as I fall over cliff after cliff (Hate that ice world!). The dramatic shrieking we do together is soooo bonding ;o)

2. Nathan got his annual review today at the office. He says he thinks maybe glimmers of his greatness are being seen ;o) (I put that in there for Tara and Julia and a few others, you know who you are).

3. Alex is hurtling himself down the stairs. Bummer. I didn't teach him in hopes of only worrying about one floor. Nope~ he's off and running. Tomorrow is his 18 mos. appt. That means shots. He continues to be a happy chappy, although he has officially begun full-blown obedience training/testing. If any of you get a phone call from a person breathing hard and drooling into the phone, don't worry- it's just him with his favorite off-limits item.

4. More later this week on Valentine's. T-T-F-N. If you know what that means, you've been reading too much Pooh and Tigger with your kids, like me...